1930-1947

(The Golden Age of Hollywood)

1. The big 5 studios were Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), RKO, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures

Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) was associated with some famous epics, producing both versions of Mutiny on the Bounty (1935, 1962) and Ben-Hur (1925, 1959) and Musicals like ‘The Wizard of Oz.

RKO produced the well-known Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers series of musicals and the early films of Katharine Hepburn, including Bringing Up Baby (1938).

20th Century Fox produced mainly westerns, musicals, screen biographies, and religious epics.

Warner Bros. turned to more socially realistic storylines. Because of its many films about gangsters, Warner Bros. soon became known as a “gangster studio”.

Paramount Pictures  was well known in the era for its comedies, both the sophisticated sex comedies and the crazier, anarchic works. 

2. Vertical Integration enabled studios to achieve control over the entire film industry and this studio system (from the 1930s to the1950s) affected the way films were made and the way they were watched. Films were made very cheaply during the studio system.

Block booking is a system of selling multiple films to a theatre as a unit. Block booking was the prevailing practice in the Hollywood studio system from the turn of the 1930s until it was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (1948).

3.The original Studio system collapse – In the end, the Court ruled in United States v. Paramount on May 4, 1948, finding that the studios had violated anti-trust laws, in a devastating blow to five major studios and three smaller ones. The case had roots dating back to 1921, when concerns first arose about the studios and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

4. The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the start of World War II on the European front were some of the most impactful historical events of 1930-1947.

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1900-1930

1. Many Film makers and producers moves to Hollywood in search of a more consistent climate for round-the-year film shooting and, of course, to escape fees imposed by Tomas Edison, who owned many patents on the movie-making process.

2. Big stars from the silent era of Hollywood include, Charlie Chaplin and Lillian Gish.

Big Directos in the silent era of Hollywood include, Ivan Abramson and John G. Adolfi.

Influential Pictures of the Silent era in Hollywood incluede : The Gold Rush and The Covered Wagon.

 3. During the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood, the studios produced one film each per week per year, this could be compared to a production line.

4. The earliest feature-length movies with recorded sound included only music and effects. The first feature film originally presented as a talkie (although it had only limited sound sequences) was The Jazz Singer, which premiered on October 6, 1927.

5. Directors now could’nt direct actors on where to go and what to do, instead they replied heavily on the skill of an acotor and his or her inflection etc.

6. The great Depression and The Russian revolution.

The Brief – ‘invitation’ by Sri Aurobindo

Deadline – Tuesday 14th December

Filming dates – Sunday 10th Dec, Tuesday 12th Dec, Wednesday 13th Dec.

Location – Both Woods in West Sussex, and St Mary.

Narration: My Dad, Speaking the poem. Or music (TBD)

Shane meadows represents young people in ‘This is England’ to be highly in-printable, this is evident in how Shaun first meets Woody’s gang and is straight away trying his best to look, talk and act like them. This is the same for the takeover of Combo’s gang, where Shaun is now pressured to hate foreigners and act violently and impulsively.

Older people (such as Shaun’s mum) are presented as either ‘wrong’ or ‘right’. What i mean by this, is that Shaun’s mum is constantly protective over Shaun and only wants what’s best for him, whereas older individuals like Combo have gone down a worse path and now resorts to recruiting a gang and acting dangerously and offensively. This is important in remembering what Shane Meadows wants to convey in this depiction of older people, firstly how vulnerable younger people are to their attitudes, and also how easily someone can be manipulated and changed by older people.

The way in which Shane Meadows represents working class individuals in ‘This is England’ considers how boys like Shaun would view this class, and also how society views this class. Although the original gang have fun with Shaun, taking him in and showing him a good time, ultimately the spectator is forced to remember the arguably ‘bad’ sides of being in the working class, like having nothing to do but sit under bridges and smash abandoned houses.

‘This is England’ explores heavily the theme of racism and stereotypes when it comes to people of colour. Milky, the only black supporting character in the film, is subjected to awkward and offensive remarks from Combo, and ultimately is the victim to a hate crime at the end of the movie. This represents how Black people are treated, being the minority in England. They are constantly having to deal with violence and hate speech from privileged white people. It is important to note how Milk does nothing ‘wrong’ to combo in the entirety of the film, he is just targeted because of the colour of his skin, a concept that Shane Meadows explores head-on.

Shane Meadows represents men in a way that exposes the societal expectation of masculinity and its dominance over others, whilst proving the pointlessness of this stereotype and how it is detrimental to how men are scared to look weak or appear inferior to another. The biggest example of this is Combo, he constantly acts as a ‘leader’ amongst his Gang and is personally threatened by any hint of challenge. He preaches pride in being a strong individual but in the end loses control of his anger and ultimately proves the cons of Hubris, and how it plays a part in the downfall of men.

This is England represents women to be much less violent and pent up in rage than men, this is evident as the movie doesn’t depict any women getting involved in Combos passion for nationalism. Most women characters in the movie are conveyed as caring and nice, none violent or irrational – this is because Shane Meadows focuses on the male perspective of growing up in England, and all female characters are their to accompany men, as girlfriend or mother.

Realism

Verisimilitude – the appearance of a movie being true or real.

Social Realism – the realistic depiction in art of contemporary life, in terms of social or political content.

Magic Realism – a literary or artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy.

Hyperreality – the inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality

Visual Style

Iconography – a particular range or system of types of image used by an artist or artists to convey particular meanings.

Intertextual referencing – the relationship between texts, anytime one text is referenced in another text.

Visual motifs – visual motif refers specifically to the visible elements that reoccur in your film to help tell your story. This can include things like props, set design, symbols, events and costumes. Specific colours or colour combinations can also be used as motifs.

Sound Motif – A sound effect or combination of sound effects that are associated with a particular character, setting, situation or idea through the film

Colour Grading – the process of editing film or video footage to have a new look to help make a video feel more vibrant and stylistic.

Auteur Trademarks – an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded and personal that the director is likened to the “author” of the film, thus manifesting the director’s unique style or thematic focus.

Tone

Pathos – something that evokes an emotional response from the audience. Anything from sadness to happiness, anger and envy.

Bathos – is a sudden, often humorous drop in tone during an anti-climax.

Suspense – a state of uncertainty about a specific outcome and it is typically coupled with feelings of anxiousness and anticipation.

Comedy – films designed to elicit laughter from the audience,  crafted to amuse, entertain, and provoke enjoyment.

Dramatic effect – the ability to emphasize, embellish or enhance an emotion, feeling or happenstance depending on the situation.

Distancing Effect – the use of techniques designed to distance the audience from emotional involvement in the play through jolting reminders of the artificiality of the theatrical performance

Postmodern Humour – linking humour with serious meanings

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Trainspotting (1996) Iconic Shot

This is England (2006) Iconic Shot